


Long-Distance Calls

by paperjamBipper



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cell Phones, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Platonic Relationships, Post-Movie, let her be happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-11-02 01:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20576009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: Steven decides he wants to give Spinel something to connect them even when they're apart.





	Long-Distance Calls

**Author's Note:**

> This was just supposed to be a short drabble of about 300 words or less, I swear. This movie has consumed my soul. I fell in love with Spinel the moment I first heard her sing Other Friends and my love for her has only grown stronger for her since and my goal at the end of this story is that you, dear reader, feel the same way.

Homeworld is so much more beautiful than Spinel remembers.

Maybe it’s just because it’s been 6,000 years since she’s even gotten a glance at the planet, or maybe Steven _wasn’t _exaggerating when he said that he established peace all across the galaxy. Earth made sense because he _lived _there, and she remembers Pink telling her about the other diamonds’ colonies, but _Homeworld? That _she had to see with her own eyes to believe, which she...guesses she did.

She _herself _never visited Homeworld much, even when Pink was still eager to play with her. Something about the risk of the other diamonds catching her, Pink had said, but they had been really happy to see her when they found her on earth, hadn’t they? Maybe that was just _another _lie Pink had told her, to keep her waiting in that garden even longer. Maybe if Homeworld was _always _this nice, she could’ve come back sooner, and all that time waiting would’ve been for _nothing, _and-

_Breathe. _

_The past is behind you. _

Steven had taught her that, just before they left the garden. _It’s hard to make a brighter future for yourself when you’re too grounded into the past._

Steven made _peace _with Homeworld, she has to remind herself. It would be for nothing if Homeworld was already peaceful to begin with.

The _point _is...Homeworld welcomed her with open arms. The diamonds weren’t kidding when they said they wanted to _adore her, _because they’ve been practically parading her around to all of their courts since the moment the ship touched down on Homeworld. Hundreds of _thousands _of gems, more than she’d ever seen since she emerged, all eager to meet her and be her _friend. _

And as ironic as it is, she has Steven to thank for it. She’d almost felt bad about leaving him behind, because he had been _so ready _to give her a chance, to let her live with him and his family and _love _her like nobody had in millennia, but she wouldn’t give up her life on Homeworld for anything in the world. (Not to mention that there’s always a warp pad just around the corner, so it’s not like she couldn’t visit if she wanted to). 

She’s thought about it, once or twice, but...what would she even _say? _He already insisted on forgiving her for the whole “poisonous injector killing your planet from the inside out” thing, so _sorry _was out of the question..._thank you? _No, no, that would be too short; she’d have to have a _reason, _like-

Before she can even finish coming up with a _ridiculous _reason, the throne room warp pad suddenly activates, and Spinel jumps up from where she’d been sitting on Pink’s old throne.

“Spinel!” Steven exclaims, once he’s finished materializing, and before she even has time to return the greeting he rushes forward and throws his arms around her, the same way he’d done to Amethyst once she restored her memories. This was a… hug, she thinks it’s called? And you hug people you care about, right? 

Spinel grins, and wraps her arms around Steven, and again, and again, and again, and the more _arm _she winds around him the harder Steven starts laughing. “Steven!” she exclaims, equally as happily. “It’s good to see you! What brings you to my _neck _of the woods?” She asks, extending her neck out and flopping her head to one side.

Steven laughs again, and slides the pack he’d been wearing on his back off of his shoulder. “Well,” he says, as he begins rummaging through the bag. “I was talking to Garnet about this, and she agreed it was a good idea, and, well, I wanted to be the one to bring it to you”

“Huh?” Spinel blinks, extending her arm to scratch at one of her pigtails. “Bring me what?”

“This!” Steven says, handing her a small white box tied in a pink bow. “I thought it’d be helpful if you….” he pauses, bashfully kicking at the ground, “ever started feeling lonely again” 

Spinel’s eyes widen, and she almost drops the little white box in shock. Her glance darts back and forth between the pretty pink bow and up at Steven a few times until he gives her an encouraging little smile. Delicately, almost like she isn’t supposed to, Spinel tears the pink bow off of the little white box and opens it to reveal...a smaller pink and black box. She drops the little white box, mostly out of confusion, and turns the little pink and black one over and over in her hands.

“What is it?”

Steven chuckles, and offers to take it back from her. Spinel’s mouth twitches downward in a small frown, afraid she’s done something wrong, and hands his gift back to him. He presses a small button on the side, and the black part, a screen, turns on. 

“It’s a phone!” he grins. “My dad still had some money left over from all those burger commercials, so I asked if I could buy you a phone, and he said yes! Isn’t that great?”

Spinel didn’t understand a single word in that sentence. She tilts her head to one side.

“Oh, right!” Steven laughs, more to himself this time, and smacks at his head with the palm of his hand. “It’s a communication device! You can use it to talk to people who are far away, see?” he taps on a little green bubble, and then a menu with his own name on it. “I already added my own number to it. Watch this!” He says, and hands the small phone to her before pulling a second one out of his pocket. He begins tapping at the screen, and the phone in her hand starts making a small buzzing noise, and she looks down to see what it says.

_Hi!! :D - sent by Steven just now._

Spinel’s eyes go wide, and her gaze darts back and forth between the two small devices. 

“How did you do that?”

Steven chuckles again. “You see that little white bar at the bottom? Hit that, and a bunch of letters will come up, and then you just type whatever message you want!”

Spinel’s eyes grow wider still, and she hesitantly taps at the little letters on her phone screen.

_hello! _

As soon as she hits the button labeled SEND, _Steven’s _phone makes the same buzzing sound, and he holds up the screen to show her. 

“See? And it doesn’t just work for two people standing in the same room, it works everywhere! Just as long as two people own a phone, they can talk to each other! And it’s not just typing back and forth, either! You can hear each other’s voices, see each other’s faces, no matter where you are in the world!” he exclaims, and then coughs under his breath. “Or, uh, galaxy, in your case.” he says, but he’s quickly back to plastering a huge grin on his face. “Do you know what this means?” he asks, but answers his own question before Spinel can even take a guess at it.

“It means that we can be together all the time! Even when I’m not visiting Homeworld, and you’re not visiting earth, we can still talk all we want and it’ll feel like we are!” his grin just keeps getting wider and wider, and if he isn’t careful it’s going to split his face in two. 

“It means you’ll never be alone again,” he adds, with a wink.

_Never be alone again. _The words echo over and over again in her head, right there with _someday, somewhere, somehow, _and before she’s even aware it’s happening there are tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh-oh, was that too far? I’m sorry, I-” Steven tries to backtrack, apologizing a hundred times a minute, but before he can say anything else Spinel picks him up and hugs him really tight.

“Thank you,” she manages, and her voice is small and quiet. Steven hugs her back, and it’s a struggle not to start crying even harder, but she holds back, and allows herself to calm down a moment before she pulls away.

“Oh, and another thing!” he says, and holds his hand out to take her phone again. She obliges, and he opens a camera up on the phone, and turns it so it’s facing the two of them. “Smile!” he exclaims, and she flashes a shy smile just as the camera shutter goes off. He takes a moment to examine the photo, nodding to himself. He smiles again, pressing a few more buttons before handing the phone back to her. “And...voila!” he says, and presses the on button on her phone one last time to reveal the photo he’d just taken of them. “I made it your wallpaper to always remind you of your friends back on earth!” He grins, and the tiny clock on his wrist starts beeping rapidly. 

“Oh, that means I gotta run” he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “But, uh, I’ll visit when I can!” he waves, and suddenly he’s gone just as quickly as he arrived. Spinel can’t help but smile, as she looks down at her little phone. 

She walks to sit back down on her little pink throne, but her phone buzzes just before she can. 

It’s a picture of Steven mid-warp stream, giving the camera a peace sign.

She snickers to herself, and snaps a quick picture of herself doing the same thing to send back to him.


End file.
